Vernon Malone Papers, PC.2096

Vernon Malone (d. 2009), a native of Wake County, was the son of John and Nonnie Donaldson Malone. A graduate of DuBois High School in Wake Forest and Shaw University in Raleigh, he studied further at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the University of Minnesota. A career educator, Malone served as chairman of the Wake County School Board; was elected as a Wake County Commissioner (1984-2002; chairman, 1990-1994); and North Carolina State Senator (2003-2009), where he was serving at the time of his sudden death.
Papers include handwritten and typed speeches made by Vernon Malone in Wake County and beyond to organizations, church and school groups, from 1976 to just before his death in 2009; letters; photographs; programs; resolutions; tributes; certificates; a diploma; guest books; the "Lord Malone 1994" Scrapbook; clippings; various material relating to his life, family, and public service; and a DVD disc of the recorded funeral service of Senator Malone, 23 April 2009. Processing may not be in its final form, but the collection may be used as is.

Vernon Malone (1931-2009) was born in Wake Forest to John and Nonnie Donaldson Malone. A graduate of local schools and Shaw University, Malone served as a corporal in the U.S. Army in the early 1950s. His professional career began as a classroom teacher in 1957 and the following year he married Susan Caldwell, also a teacher. Malone was appointed in 1972 to Wake County Board of Education, and elected to his first full term in 1973. In 1976 he was serving as board chair when the Wake County and Raleigh schools were merged. Malone served as a Wake County commissioner from 1980 until his election to the North Carolina State Senate in 2002--an office he held until his death in 2009. Papers include his handwritten and typed speeches, letters; photographs; programs; resolutions; tributes; certificates; a diploma; guest books, a photograph album, scrapbook, and other materials.